• Experts seek enforcement of EIA in projects, green areas, public spaces
• ‘Farmers displacement poses food sovereignty risk’
• Experts urge revival of irrigation facilities, breeding for drought resistance
• We have remediated 46 sites in Ogoni, says HYPREP
• UN urges countries to restore degraded ecosystems, land

The high temperatures, non-implementation of the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) reports, and audit of the pollution in the Niger Delta region may have cast doubt on the country’s environmental stewardship and efforts to combat hunger; attain efficient use of natural resources and stem environmental damage.

Specifically, issues of unregulated mining, deforestation and oil and gas extraction activities, as well as land reclamation are promoting profiteering and abuse of resources to the benefit of a few political class at the expense of the vast majority of Nigerians who continue to wallow in poverty.

The experts in their assessment to mark World Environment Day (WED) today, themed: ‘Land Restoration, Desertification and Drought Resilience,’ said some EIA reports on development projects have been shrouded in secrecy and become an academic exercise in futility. WED is celebrated yearly on June 5 to encourage awareness and action for the protection of the environment.

They said the government should be reclaiming or restoring the wetlands, not turning ecosystems into patches of death as the case in Lagos waterfronts. The experts also called for planting of indigenous species that are already adapted to ecosystems to ensure drought resilience.

While seeking a sober reflection on the profligate relationship with the environment backed with intentional actions to solve it, they urged the government to match policies and laws with actions.

The Director, Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), Nnimmo Bassey, said there is ongoing massive land degradation from unregulated mining, deforestation and from oil and gas extraction activities.

“Our poor environmental management has made parts of northern Nigeria paradoxically suffer more desertification than southern Niger Republic,” he said.
He called on the Federal Government to embark on an environmental audit of the Niger Delta region and follow it up with remediation, restoration and reparations.

“We cannot wait until Ogoni clean up is completed before that is done. The noises that oil extraction could resume in Ogoniland are a big indication that the idea of cleaning up the territory may be scuttled.

“The Ogoni clean-up ought to be a laboratory for learning how to tackle the hydrocarbon pollution in the rest of the Niger Delta. The clean-up is of a magnitude that had not been carried out anywhere else in the world. And that is because nowhere else has the level of pollution that has happened here without being checked,” Bassey said.

According to him, land reclamation is a ridiculously poor attempt to cover up efforts at converting wetlands into concrete jungles. “It is a horrible idea that should be legislated against. Lagos suffers devastating flooding during even minor rains. Turning wetlands into concrete surfaces in a sense to create buildable spaces reduces available permeable areas and is an indication of either ignorance or climate denial.

“The systematic opening of these valuable ecosystems by the power of speculation and profiteering at the expense of our rich aquatic biodiversity has serious negative implications for local economies and the well-being of the overall health of the environment and our people. It should also be noted that those most prone to carry out this negative activity are the super-rich who build but live mostly abroad and leave their exotic homes uninhabited, while other parts of Lagos are overcrowded and under-serviced.”

Bassey urged the government to enforce its regulation on urban planning. “We need to have enforced rules that ensure that every neighbourhood has sufficient green areas and public spaces. This is one way to socialise our communities and ensure that our people have common spaces for recreation, sports and other activities. They should be seen not just as the lungs of our communities but the glue that holds our people together.”

He noted that the downward push of herders is an unavoidable outcome of reckless environmental stewardship, adding that the conflicts have implications for food security. “Beyond food security, the displacement of our farmers and the introduction of seeds donated by international or local agencies could also pose a big risk for our food sovereignty,” he added.

The Chairman, Board of Directors, Nigerian Environmental Study/Action Team (NEST), Prof Chinedum Nwajiuba, observed that the pattern of location of facilities and infrastructure, as well as the pattern of resources expended in the country, has a pull effect into certain locations, especially Lagos. “The nature of the geography of Lagos, and the choices made, has accelerated reclamation.”

Nwajiuba, a former Vice Chancellor, Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ebonyi State, explained that many green areas are being lost to urban development and housing due to a lack of synergy between the Ministries of Environment, and Urban Development and Housing. He called for an inter-ministerial committee on such matters.

The professor of agricultural economics advocated the revival of irrigation facilities and breeding for drought resistance to tackle high temperatures and delayed rainfall in the country. He said: “Preliminary indication in southern Nigeria is that maize yield will be low despite farmers’ best efforts. This is despite possibly more land area put to cultivation, more labour, and more capital deployed.

“The aggregate decline in maize yields this year is existing simultaneously with declined resource use productivity, and is mostly driven by atypical high temperatures, and precipitation deficits.”

A former president of the Association of Town Planning Consultants of Nigeria (ATOPCON), Dr Moses Ogunleye, said the commitment by governments at the various tiers has been low on combating desertification and drought, as well as on land restoration, adding that the green wall project on combating desertification is worthy if its target can be achieved.

He said there are still many instances of land degradation in the Niger Delta area; notwithstanding, the cleanup in Ogoni land, which was not only awful but very threatening.

Ogunleye stressed that environmental auditing is weak in the country, saying that what is needed is compliance with environmental management practices and laws by the stakeholders.

“When EIA is carried out on a project, and certificate issued, what happens next? Generally, stakeholders feel less concerned after the EIA process. This provides an opportunity for proponents to play games by treating the environment the way they like and resulting in negative consequences. The country requires continuous public enlightenment on the ills of environmental degradation,” he said.

For him, land reclamation can be done, but not without effective planning and coordination. “In Lagos, where land is scarce, there have been substantial reclamation, most of which were initiated by the private sector. Every land reclamation not envisaged by physical development plans ought not to be allowed.

“Reclamation should not be at the wish of the business pleasure of a funder. The state should take stock of what has been reclaimed, evaluate it and prepare a reclamation plan for 20 years. Reclamation should not be carried out in all areas of the state,” he said.

Ogunleye called for the adoption of large landscape improvement plans in all cities and towns like Operation Green Lagos started in 2008, and led to the planting of a large number of trees.

The Head of communications, Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Project (HYPREP), an arm of the Federal Ministry of Environment charged with Ogoni clean-up, Enuolare Mba-Nwigoh, who spoke on behalf of the Project Coordinator, Prof Nenibarini Zabbey told The Guardian that about 46 sites have been cleaned (remediated) and most of them certified by the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), the regulator agency that supervises HYPREP’s operations.

He said 39 shoreline and nine mangrove contractors are currently working in the Gokana local council to address contaminants of concern in the creeks of Ogoni and restore mangrove vegetation.

“All of these are contributing to ecosystem revitalisation and restoring the land for food production, which has been adversely hampered by hydrocarbon pollution in the region,” he said.

Mba-Nwigoh revealed that HYPREP is in talks with the African Development Bank (AFDB) to establish an agro-processing hub in Ogoniland to increase value in the food production value chain, boost food security and improve livelihood. “Interestingly, with some successes recorded in the clean-up project, communities are now returning to their farmland,” he said.

According to him, the project is making strides in its other mandate, which include the provision of potable water, construction of the Centre of Excellence for Environmental Restoration (CEER), public health interventions – with the construction of the Ogoni Specialist Hospital, Buan Cottage Hospital and health strengthening programme.

Meanwhile, the United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, has called on countries to deliver on all their commitments to restore degraded ecosystems, land, and the entire Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.

In a message on the WED, he said: “They must use their new national climate action plans to set out how they will halt and reverse deforestation by 2030. We must drastically scale up finance to support developing countries to adapt to violent weather, protect nature, and support sustainable development.

He said sustainable development is suffering as land use is responsible for 11 per cent of the carbon dioxide emissions heating the planet. “Inaction is too costly .
But swift and effective action makes economic sense. Every dollar invested in ecosystem restoration creates up to $30 in economic benefits,” Guterres added.